Hard part begins now

Posted: Friday, May 31, 2002

DON MUNSCHdmunsch@amarillonet.com

Amarillo firefighter Lonnie Hollabaugh said the "hard part" now begins for those who worked at ground zero.

Hollabaugh was a member of a team of Amarillo Firefighters for Christ who visited ground zero in January to minister and counsel those working at the recovery site. He said now that the cleanup is done, recovery workers will reflect on what they did - and didn't do.

"I think that anything like that is going to change people," he said. "In our profession, it can make or break them. It's going to be tough."

Hollabaugh said no one outside those who worked there can know what recovery workers are experiencing, and he said the "hard part" for recovery workers is knowing that they have done everything they can, and yet they wish they could do more.

Emily Nolte, emergency services director for the Greater Amarillo Chapter of the American Red Cross, said that if at all possible, recovery workers should work toward getting back into what were their normal lives before Sept. 11.

When she was at ground zero in the fall, she said she found recovery workers to be "incredibly purposeful and mission-oriented." But now the mission is complete, and workers are being asked to return to the real world.

"It may take them awhile to get back into old ways," she said, adding that a majority of the recovery workers will need some mental health assistance.